MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The University of Minnesota men’s hockey team released its 2013-14 schedule Wednesday morning, the program’s first season in the newly-formed Big 10 Conference.

The Gophers will have a total of 36 regular season games and a 20-game conference schedule. They’ll open the season hosting New Hampshire, Clarkson and Mercyhurst at Mariucci Arena Oct. 11-12. Match-ups for that tournament will be announced at a later date.

Minnesota will host Wisconsin in its first Big 10 series. The Gophers will also host the first Minnesota College Hockey Tournament Jan. 24-24, 2014, at Xcel Energy Center with St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State, Mankato.

The Gophers will have three Big 10 Conference series that will be held Thursday-Friday, while the other two will be Friday-Saturday series. The Xcel Energy Center will also host the Big 10 Conference Tournament March 20-22, 2014, and the NCAA West Regional on March 28-29, 2014.